The incidence of malaria has increased since before the pandemic, with 167 million cases and 426,000 deaths recorded in the 11 most affected countries alone in 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
"In 2022, there were estimated 249 million malaria cases globally, exceeding the pre-pandemic level of 233 million in 2019 by 16 million cases," the WHO said in its annual malaria report, adding that "in the 11 countries that carry the highest burden of malaria, rates of new infections and deaths have levelled off following an initial upsurge during the first year of the pandemic.
“These countries … saw an estimated 167 million malaria cases and 426,000 deaths in 2022."
The countries most affected by malaria are Burkina Faso, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Cameroon, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania, according to the report.
The progress towards eliminating malaria by 2025 is "off track by a wide margin" due to a number of threats, such as drug and insecticide resistance, humanitarian crises, resource constraints and climate change impacts, according to the report.
"The changing climate poses a substantial risk to progress against malaria, particularly in vulnerable regions.
“Sustainable and resilient malaria responses are needed now more than ever, coupled with urgent actions to slow the pace of global warming and reduce its effects," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was quoted as saying.
Malaria is caused by a mosquito-borne parasite and does not spread from person to person.
Initial symptoms include fever, headache and chills. The disease spreads mainly in Africa.